Method of making beaded shoe welting



Nov. 7, 1961 P. w. GREENE 3,007,185

7 METHOD OF MAKING BEADED SHOE WELTING Filed May 12, 1958 /.9- FIG.I 2? [8/ 33 2a 26 I9 I) L 22 FIGS f 36 mvENToR.

A T TOQNE Y United States Welting Company, Brockton, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed May 12, 1958, Ser. No. 734,748 1 Claim. (Cl. 12146) This invention relates to a beaded shoe welting and to a method of making the same.

The invention hasfor an object to provide a novel and improved shoe welting characterized by novel structure which enables a welting of a desired width to be constructed from a fillet of welting stock less in width than the resulting finished welt, thereby effecting a substantial saving in athe cost of the welting stock.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved method of making a beaded shoe welting of the character specified in an efficient and economical manner.

With these general objects in view and such others as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the novel beaded welting and in the method of making the same as hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention:

FIGS. 1 through 5 are perspective views illustrating the successive cutting, folding and molding steps in the formation of the present shoe welting; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the finished beaded welting formed in accordance with the steps illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5.

In general the present invention contemplates a novel and improved beaded shoe welting and method of making the same wherein a shoe welt of the desired proportions in width and thickness may be produced from a leather fillet of less width than the finished welting. In accordance with the present'invention this may be accomplished by providing a fillet of a thickness slightly greater than the finished welting and from which a hinged flap cut from the underside or flesh side of the strip and a hinged flap cut from one edge and a coextensive portion of the upper or grain side of the fillet are folded in a manner such that the bottom flap provides a portion of the underside of the inseam flange, and an extended portion thereof provides a core member over which the upper hinged flap or cover member is folded to provide an upstanding bead, an extended portion of the cover flap forming the upper portion of the inseam flange. In practice the parts are folded and shaped in the manner defined by molding operations, and a final molding operation provides a relatively deep stitching groove in the underside of the strip under the bead. As the welt strip is being formed into shape to provide the stitching groove the folded portions of the bead and the inseam flange are compressed and deformed to provide an extended inseam edge whereby the finished beaded welting is of a width greater than the width of the fillet from which it is produced.

In order to illustrate the savings effected by the present invention in the cost of the welt stock utilized in the manufacture of the present welt, the welt is herein illustrated and described as being manufactured from a fillet or strip of welt stock in width. Prior to the present invention in order to manufacture a beaded welt of the general type and width herein illustrated and described it was necessary to utilize a strip of welt stock fl or more in width to produce a finished welt /z wide. In other words in order to produce a finished welt of a given dimension it was necessary to start with a fillet of welt stock approximately greater in width than the width of the finished welt. Thus, it will be apparent that a savings of approximately in width of welt stock is effected by the present invention, and it may be seen that the savings thus effected are substantial considering the high cost of high grade welt stock and the hundreds of thousands of yards which may be produced. In practice the cost of the welt stock varies with the width of the stock rather than the thickness thereof.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 through 5, 10 represents a substantially rectangular leather fillet from which the present welt may be made and which preferably comprises a fillet wide and thick having a grain surface 12 and a flesh surface 14. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and in accordance with the preferred method of making the present welting, the corner 16 of the welt is preferably rounded or skived, and an incision is made in the flesh surface 14 starting at a point 18 in the marginal edge 19 and spaced approximately & upwardly from the flesh surface 14 and extended parallel thereto to a point 2.0 which may be about from the opposed marginal edge 22. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a second incision is provided starting at a point 24 in the underside or flesh surface 14 of the fillet and spaced about & inwardly from the marginal edge 22 and extended upwardly parallel to the marginal edge 22 to a point 26 disposed approximately downwardly from the grain surface 12. The incision is then turned and extended substantially at right angles to its first direction and parallel to the grain surface 12, terminating at a point 28 spaced approximately A inwardly from the opposed marginal edge 19 of the fillet 10.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the incision in the flesh surface 14 provides a bottom flap 30 hingedly connected to the fillet at point 20, and the incision in the grain surface 12 provides a cover flap 32 hingedly connected at point 28. The flaps 30 and 32 may first be folded in the manner illustrated in FIG. 4 wherein the cover flap 32 is folded upwardly at right angles to the upper surface of the fillet exposing a flesh surface 33 at the top and an edge surface 34. The bottom flap 30 is folded around the edge 34, then against the exposed surface 33 underlying the cover flap 32 and then upwardly at right angles to said surface and parallel to the upwardly folded portion of the cover flap 32. The free end or vertically extended portion 36 of the bottom flap 30 is preferably of a height such as to provide a core 39 portion for the head which is formed as illustrated in FIG. 5 by folding the cover flap 32 over the folded portion of the bottom flap 30, the parts thus arranged providing an inseam flange portion 35, a bead portion 37 and a welt extension 38. As also shown in FIG. 5, the free end of the cover flap is preferably folded to extend substantially flush with the rounded edge of the folded bottom flap. The contacting portions of the elements forming the bead and the inseam flange may be provided with suitable adhesive of the type which is commonly used in the welt manufacturing industry prior to the folding and molding operations.

In order to complete the formation of the beaded welt, the parts thus disposed, as shown in FIG. 5, are molded into the shape shown in FIG. 6, the molding operation providing a relatively deep stitching groove 39, the parts being compressed and shaped in the manner illustrated wherein the cover flap 32 is laminated to the over-folded portion of the bottom flap 30 which in turn is laminated to the underlying portion of the fillet upon which the bottom flan is folded.

Referring again to FIG. 4, it will be observed that the cover flap 32 is preferably folded upwardly at a point about inwardly from the terminating point 28 of the upper surface incision to provide flexibility during the molding operation and to produce a welt extension 38 about wide from the marginal edge 19 to the right angle edge of the bead 37. It will also be observed that cutting of the A flap 30 from the bottom of the thick fillet reduces the thickness of the welt to the desired thickness of 4 As also illustrated in FIG. 4, it will be observed that the 4 thick portion of the cover flap 32 cut from the marginal edge 22 reduces the width of the fillet to one edge being defined by the edge surface 34, and that when the bottom flap 30 is folded around the edge 34 the hinge point 2% is stretched out flat and disappears, and the lower portion of the edge 34 bends upwardly, on a hinge point indicated at 40, into faceto-face engagement with the upper portion thereof. It will also be observed that the folded bottom flap 30 forms a hinge point at 42 providing a substantially triangular portion 44 about & wide at its base between the hinge points 40 and 42, thus extending the width of the welt by This thickness together with the 1 thickness of the bottom flap 30 itself from the hinge point 42 to the outer rounded edge of the fold brings the overall width of the welt to the desired width. It will be understood that the hinge points 40, 42 and the triangular portion 44 are formed by buckling of the material itself during the folding and molding operations. As a result of the folding operation to extend the width of the welt as above described and also as a result of the molding and compressing operation at which time the stitching groove 39 is formed, the inseam flange portion 35 is deformed in the manner illustrated in FIG. 6 to extend the overall width of the fillet greater than the width of the fillet from which it is made. It will be observed that such extension is effected while maintaining a substantial thickness and body in the area adjacent the stitching groove 39 to provide the inseam flange with the strength necessary to hold the stitching and to enable the stitching to pull the welt tightly against the upper of the shoe in which it may be incorporated.

While it is preferred to produce the present novel beaded welting from a grain leather fillet, other suitable material may be used, and it is not desired to limit the invention to the use of grain leather welt stock. Also, while specific proportions of a desired width and thickness of the welt have been herein defined it will be understood that welts of other proportions in width and thickness may be produced in accordance with the abovedefined method to provide a unitary beaded welting strip of greater width than the width of the initial strip whereby to effect a saving in the use of welt stock.

From the above description it will be apparent that the present novel beaded shoe welting is characterized by a structure providing an integral cover flap and core member which are incised from the body of the fillet of welt stock and folded in a manner such as to provide a finished molded welt which is greater than the width of the strip of welt stock from which the finished welting is made. It will be apparent that this expedient results in a substantial saving of welt stock and, therefore, enables the present welting to be produced in an efiicient and economical manner.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

The method of making a beaded shoe welt having a welt extension portion, an inseam flange portion and an upstanding head portion disposed intermediate said welt extension and inseam flange which comprises: providing a fillet of welt stock of a width less than the width of the finished welt; cutting a strip from the underside of the fillet to provide an integral flap hinged adjacent the marginal edge which will be the inseam edge in the finished welt; cutting a second strip from the marginal edge which will be the inseam edge in the finished welt and a coextensive portion of the upper surface of the fillet to provide a flap hinged intermediate the portions of the finished welt which will be the welt extension and inseam marginal edges; folding the second flap upwardly at right angles to the fillet to expose the underlying surface; folding the first flap around the marginal edge which will be the inseam edge in the finished welt, across said exposed portion and then upwardly parallel to said second flap to provide an upstanding core portion, the folding of said first flap around the edge which will be the inseam marginal edge in the finished welt effecting buckling of said edge to fold the same upon itself providing a substantially triangular portion extended between said edge and the flap and which together with the thickness of the flap extends the width of the edge which will be the inseam edge in the finished welt, then folding the second flap over said core portion and over the said marginal edge to provide an inseam flange portion, and then molding the assembly to compress and deform the same to produce a finished welt having a width greater than the fillet from which it is made.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,754,600 Vizard July 17, 1956 

